Harry Potter and the Time Turner's Gift
by Esthar47
Summary: The actions of a former Death Eater lead to Harry following him back in time. Landing in 1991, devoid of any memories of the past timeline, Harry must journey through life once more. Little does he know, he's on a mission to take down a powerful criminal.
1. Prologue Part 1

Harry Potter and Time Turner's Gift

Disclaimer: I do not own the amazing Harry Potter series. All rights go to J.K. Rowling, Scholastic Books, Bloomsbury Books, and Warner Bros.

Author's Notes: This is an edited version of a story I tried writing nearly a year ago. I never got much farther than three entries, but I'm expecting that to change this time around. Also, thoughts will have one quotation mark on either side and actual dialogue will have the standard two.

**Prologue (Part 1)**

[February 3, 2003]

It was around this time of day that Diagon Alley tended to be quiet enough to the point where it became quite eerie. Each and every shop had closed down for the day a few hours earlier and vacated to their homes although that doesn't mean that there weren't some shady figures walking around at night. This was not the case for Terry Boot who, after a long day of stamping papers in his office within the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, had just finished a night of drinking with coworkers and friends. Slightly drunk, he traversed the roads of Diagon Alley towards his flat. As he passed the final corner before reaching it, he began to hear footsteps behind him. Not the paranoid type, Terry shook it off and finally reached his door. With a single flick of his wand, the lock released.

"Home sweet home," Terry mumbled, placing his wand on his counter before deciding to manually lock his door.

The very moment he turned to do so, the front wall of his flat burst apart. Debris now flooded the living area, some of it even pinning Terry to the ground. Groaning, Terry looked forwards, trying to spot the perpetrator. It was at that moment that he spotted a man in black robes, the dark of the night shielding his face, standing where the doorway would be, his wand out.

"Who are you? What do you want with me?" Terry asked as he moved his free right hand toward his wand, not wanting to take chances.

The man took a few steps forward, kicking away Terry's wand first and foremost. Pointing his own wand at Terry's head. "I am the Night Watcher."

"The Night Watcher? Who exactly are y-" Terry began to speak but was stopped as a green beam of light flew from the Night Watcher's wand, relieving Terry Boot of his life.

The mysterious Night Watcher let out a sigh, thinking he had been too careless with his actions. After picking up Terry's wand, the man pocketed it and apparated from the area. This was a nice start, but there was still much more to do. Lord Voldemort's mistakes were still not rectified.

[February 4, 2003] (Ministry of Magic- Minster's Office)

Kingsley Shacklebolt looked to the reports sitting on the desk in front of him. Each of them had been taken from witnesses that found the murdered Terry Boot. He sighed, trying to think of a feasible explanation of the event he could release to the presses when they would eventually arrive. The only problem plaguing him was that he hadn't come up with one. Perhaps the Aurors he'd sent to investigate the scene could be able to shed some information on it. Just as he had delved deep into his thoughts, Kingsley shot his head up as four men entered.

"Welcome, Harry," Kingsley greeted, watching as Dean, Neville, and Ron followed. "Did you find anything at the scene of the crime?"

Harry Potter, famed wizard extraordinaire, took a step forward. "Not a thing. Whoever this was, he'd been careful not to leave a traceable magic signature behind. That's very odd considering whoever did this blew away the front portion of the apartment. It takes a lot of practice to do something like that."

"The operation itself wasn't too hard to put together. All of the debris from the front of the apartment trapped Terry, and it looks like he was taken out swiftly with an Avada Kedavra," Ron added.

"We can't be too sure if the attacker will do this to anyone else. There could be a chance that those close to him are in danger as well. I suggest we talk to some of his closest friends," Dean Thomas spoke up.

"Very well. Who would you four talk to?"

Neville spoke up this time. "I remember seeing him spend his time with Michael Corner and Anthony Goldstein quite a lot in the Leaky Cauldron for the past few years. He never talked about any family from what I heard, so I'm pretty sure Goldstein and Corner were the only people he spent much time with save for a few people from his job. We should probably start with his school friends."

"I'll leave Harry and Dean to cover Corner while Ron and Neville can keep watch on Goldstein."

The four Aurors were given permission to use the Minister's fireplace for transportation to the Leaky Cauldron and each went one at a time into it at a time, asking for the Leaky Cauldron. Just seconds later, they were each in the basement of the Leaky Cauldron which was out of possible Muggle view.

"I've never enjoyed the whole Floo Power experience," Harry grumbled before wiping dust off of his robes, following the others up the stairs to the ground floor afterwards. "Well, I suppose that Dean and I will stay here. The two of you can go ahead and locate Anthony."

Neville gave a swift nod of comprehension and was prepared to leave before remembering something. "We'll wait just a bit. I'm going to say high to Hannah. She's the Landlady now. Tom retired just a few months earlier."

"Go ahead, Neville, we've got plenty of time. The bar is on the other side of this floor, so I suppose we'll see you later," Harry said.

"Harry, do we have any means of communicating with each other if something goes wrong?" Ron brought up before Harry joined Dean who had already begun to walk away.

Harry turned to Ron. "Just send a jet of sparks into the air. We'll be right over."

With that, Ron and Neville left the Leaky Cauldron, heading towards the shopping district and, ultimately, to Olivander's.

As the others left, Michael Corner left his post behind the bar counter and walked over to Harry and Dean who had just taken a seat at a table near the fire place. He hadn't changed much from his Hogwarts days despite his hair now being held back in a ponytail as well as his ragged bartending clothes of choice. "It's been a while, gents. How's the Auror business been?"

"Same as usual. You know, finding and taking down threats to the wizarding world… and yourself?" Dean ended with a grin.

"I've been fine. It has been different without Terry around, though. Haven't seen Anthony in a while either. Is there something that the both of you are here for?"

"For a start, we'll take two butterbeers," Harry replied, smiling.

"You guys sure you don't want something stronger? Fire Whiskey perhaps?"

Dean laughed. "We're on official Auror business, Michael. Getting drunk on said business could end with disastrous results. We'll stick with the butterbeers."

Michael poured both drinks after taking the order and placed them on the table in front of Dean and Harry. He pulled up a chair and sat with them. "Well, let's get on with it. I'm certain there's something that needs discussing."

"Good guess. We're here to talk about Terry," Harry said, taking a sip of his butterbeer when done.

Dean nodded to Harry. "Do you know of anything that could have led someone to killing him?"

"I don't know anything. The only time I ever saw him was when he'd stop in for drinks with some of his Ministry pals on Friday nights."

For the next few hours Harry and Dean tried to squeeze out every last detail from Michael, trying to at least find some kind of clue towards the assailant's identity. They came up with nothing. Dean and Harry left the Leaky Cauldron not too long after but only found themselves on the move at that time as well. Rising into the air was a jet of red light.

"Damn it, something's going wrong. Dean, let's hurry," Harry began to weave in and out of multiple alleys after alerting Dean.

Just minutes after the initial flare, Harry and Dean reached the launch location but were only in time to see the Night Watcher standing over the bodies of Anthony, Ron, and Neville, the mysterious figure having caught them off guard.

The Night Watcher turned to Harry, his face still covered. "Harry Potter. The one who defeated Tom."

"Who are you?" Dean questioned as he caught up with Harry.

In order to make it so only he and Harry were the only ones standing, the Night Watcher flicked his wand and, at the very tip, a beam of white light emerged. It seemingly grabbed Dean by the leg and hung him in the air momentarily before the Night Watcher flung him into the window of a vacant building. Dean barreled into an assortment of knickknacks and doodads before stopping at the base of the lone counter within the store. With Dean now out of the picture, the Night Watcher returned his attention to Harry.

"I'm assuming you would be asking the same question as your friend did, Potter," the Night Watcher moved his wand in front of his face, pulling it away slowly directly afterwards. The shroud of darkness slowly dissipated. "Do you see who I am now, Potter?"

"Now I recognize you. From the Auror records. You are the elder Avery. When all of the Death Eaters were sent back to Azkaban after the Battle of Hogwarts, you're the only Death Eater that was never accounted for," Harry paused before continuing. "Why the hell'd you just now decide to start causing trouble?"

The elder Avery, who looked to be in good shape for his age, took a step forward before responding to Harry. "I needed time to formulate my plan. Granted, it did take longer than I thought. Especially when you locked up all of Tom's followers. That certainly changed the course of things."

"What exactly is your plan, Avery? And why does the killing of my former classmates have to be involved?"

"I'm not going to indulge upon the more important part of my plan to you, Potter, but I do suppose there are some details I can enlighten you with," Avery interrupted himself with a wheeze prior to continuing. "You see, Tom Riddle, or Voldemort, as he liked to be called after his years at Hogwarts, was a friend of mine nearly sixty years ago in Hogwarts. I'd always followed him as a lackey of sorts, but I veered off from that path after you killed him. Over fifteen years in Azkaban had greatly debilitated my body compared to how it was before. I knew I couldn't be of adequate enough assistance to Tom and simply ran off," Avery finished with another wheeze, it this time developing into a full-on cough.

Harry watched as the old man entered his coughing fit and patiently waited until he was finished. "Well, get on with it."

"Excuse me, Potter. My time in Azkaban hasn't been so kind to me in the long run," Avery finally gathered himself and continued on. "They all thought I had died since I never responded to Tom's calls via the Dark Mark. I felt that the situation was beyond anything I could handle. For three more years, I isolated myself in a cottage off the coast of the North Sea in Dover. That ended once I heard of Tom's death and the eradication of the Death Eaters and imprisonment of their members. At that point I knew someone had to carry out his duties, so I kindly obliged by trying to make myself capable of the feats I once was. I did and here I am."

"Then I guess it's time I get to stopping you before you kill anyone else, Avery," Harry brought his wand up and aimed. 'Expelliarmus!'

'Protego.'Avery shot away the spell, twisting and aiming directly at Harry, flicking his wrist twice and shouting, "Confringo!"

Eyes wide, Harry sped out of the way and dove as the spell came in contact with the building that formerly stood behind him. It exploded, sending shards of glass and chunks of rock in every direction as it also burst into flames. Harry guarded his head as the miscellaneous debris scattered, a stray shard of glass leaving a light cut on his right cheek. He noticed that the damage had managed to work its way into the shop Dean was flung into but decided against checking on him due to the threat that was still about. Gripping his wand tightly, Harry backed away from the flames while also trying to use the smoke to shield himself from Avery. When he felt the time right, he made out the silhouettes of his friends and rushed towards them. Upon arrival, he discovered Anthony to be groggy but still awake. Anthony stood up, trying to ask Harry what was going on.

"Not now Anthony. Get your wand o-" Harry began to order Anthony but was interrupted when a green jet of light sped towards them. "Get down!"

Before he had the chance to do as Harry told him to, Anthony was hit with the green jet head on, falling several feet away and going limp. Quickly, Harry got to his feet and ran to Anthony and tried to survey his body for any sign of life. To his chagrin, he discovered Anthony was dead. Not wasting anytime on grievances, Harry turned his attention back to where Avery had been prior.

"Show yourself, Avery. I know you can here me, coward. Come out and fight me!" Harry called out to his enemy, trying to entice him into fighting.

"Very well, Potter," Avery complied, waving his wand as to move the smoke out of the way. "The next move may be yours."

Still angry, Harry aimed directly at Avery's head. "Bombarda Maxima!"A silver-white light erupted from the tip of Harry's wand, the force behind it causing the entire street ahead of him to tear apart and rise up from the ground.

As the street began to tear apart, the blunt part of the spell continued on its path to Avery. In vain, he attempted to cast a shielding charm but only managed to get it up slightly. Avery managed to keep himself from getting blown apart but still was thrown into the raging storm of built up street debris. When the dust settled, Harry surveyed the damage. Finding no immediate sign of Avery, he ran over to the area he last saw Dean and climbed over the bottom of the broken window pane into what looked like a pawn shop. Harry knelt down to one knee next to Dean after finding him slumped over in front of the counter and checked for any sign of a pulse.

"It's faint. It's there, but it's faint," Harry dug his right arm beneath Dean's left and lifted his friend up. He carried Dean out of the doorway for the shop and set him against the foundation of a still intact structure.

Just as Harry began to go check on the condition of Ron and Neville, he heard the distinct sound of disapparition. He cursed under his breath as he believed it was Avery getting away. Over the course of the next thirty minutes, everyone that was unconscious had regained consciousness and returned to the Ministry with the body of Anthony Goldstein. Due to it being well into the wee hours of the morning, the Main Halls of the Ministry were completely empty which made it easier to drag a dead body and an injured friend to the Minister's Office. Upon entry, Harry and the others were relieved to find Kingsley awake and in the middle of a discussion with Gawain Robards, Head of the Auror Department. Kingsley stopped mid-sentence while talking to Gawain and turned his attention to the men at the door.

"Sorry to interrupt, Kingsley, but we've got a few problems on our hands," Ron said, helping Neville get the body of Anthony Goldstein in the room.

Harry decided to convey the past situation to the Minister."We were talking to Corner and Goldstein for information, but Neville and Ron were attacked by our mystery man. That man turned out to be the elder Avery. Dean and I answered a distress call from Ron, but we were greeted by the sign of the unconscious bodies of Anthony, Ron, and Neville. Avery threw Dean into a window and into a pawn shop. I tried to subdue Avery but failed, and he got away at the last second."

Kingsley took everything in before saying anything else. "From the looks of things, Goldstein is dead and Dean is injured. Gawain, can you take the two of them to St. Mungo's? I'll notify Goldstein's family."

With a nod of understanding, Gawain took hold of Dean and Anthony and disapparated to St. Mungo's. With nothing left to say to the Aurors in front of his desk, Kingsley dismissed them. As they left, Kingsley stood up and paced around in his room before accessing the files in the back of his room. With a simple wave of his wand, files hovered out of their respective drawers and set themselves on top of each other on his desk. It didn't take much searching through them until he found Avery's file and history.

"Iras Avery Sr. Born August twenty-forth, nineteen twenty-six. That makes him seventy-seven at this time. Hm, a friend of Tom Riddle during their tenure at Hogwarts. Imprisoned in Azkaban for fifteen years. No record of ever participating in Death Eater activity after escaping Azkaban," Kingsley spoke to himself as he flipped through the relatively slim files on Avery. "Odd that he decided that now would be the best time to make himself known to the wizarding world. Even odder that he seems to be doing that successfully."

February 25, 2003 (Three Weeks after the Skirmish in Diagon Alley)

Harry sat alone in his office, working on a crossword in the Daily Prophet. It had been three weeks since his short duel with Avery and there had been no sign of the mad man since. The number of assignments had also seemed to die down. Most days were simply spent working on paperwork, organizing files, and just wasting away the day with Ron in Hermione's office in the Department for the Regulation and Control for Magical Creatures. Ginny was away in Dover with the Hollyhead Harpies playing against the Dover Dragons so he was also busy worrying about her safety due to the fact that Avery disclosed the information that he'd been living there for five years in a small cottage.

The day went by slowly, even putting Harry to sleep at one point. As the hours went by and the night slowly dragged in, the people of the Ministry began to slowly thin out in number until only a few people and the cleaning crew was left. Harry looked out of the window of his office, thinking now would be a good time to go home to Godric's Hollow. That is until Gawain Robards came rushing into Harry's quiet office, the lights of the office flickering on as the Head Auror entered.

"Potter, your fiancée, the youngest Weasley, was found dead in the Hollyhead Harpies locker room an hour after the game against the Dover Dragons was supposed to end. There was a note left addressed to you. I'm sorry for your loss, Harry," Robards quickly placed the sealed peace of parchment on Harry's desk and exited just as fast but made no noise as he did so.

Overcome by a mix of anguish and anger, Harry hurled his wand across the room and closed the doors to his office with a passive wave of his right hand. He tore open the letter, tears beginning to well up in his eyes, and read aloud. "Another of my targets is gone. It's unfortunate it had to be the woman you were going to marry. Signed, The Night Watcher."

Harry tore the letter apart, tossing the pieces into the corner of his office as he stood, sending a punch at a wall in anger. Overcome with emotion, he punched the same spot several times. Blood began to drip from his knuckles, and he finally stopped. He slumped over in front of a filing cabinet, continuing to cry.


	2. Prologue Part 2

Harry Potter and the Time Turner's Gift

Disclaimer: I do not own the amazing Harry Potter series. All rights go to J.K. Rowling, Scholastic Books, Bloomsbury Books, and Warner Bros.

**Prologue (Part 2) **

March 23, 2003 (Nearly a month since the death of Ginevra Weasley)

The waves of the North Sea crashed upon the shore accompanying the small town of Dover constantly, raging and getting more powerful with each attack against the copious amount of sand that ran along the shore for miles upon miles. In the skies above, a storm was brewing and it looked to be quite the dangerous one. This didn't bother Harry who stood, shoes still on, at the base of the water. He watched as it constantly pushed and pulled itself in its usual current. These days, Harry usually noticed small details like that in everything or everyone he was around. There wasn't any reason not to as he found himself in places unfamiliar recently in his new quest to find Avery.

As the rain began to fall from the skies above, Harry turned to face a row of cottages that had no specific group or street name to go by. They were, though, protected from Muggles. That was because they were some of the only enchanted homes in all of Dover. Harry believed this would be the location that Avery had described over a month and a half ago in Diagon Alley. He had already searched the other enchanted homes throughout the past few weeks and had finally managed to acquire the needed warrants for these last few cottages. Over the course of the next hour, Harry thoroughly searched four of the five cottages, searching for any sign of Avery but found nothing within the empty homes save for a few worthless, scattered belongings. It wasn't until the last house in the line of cottages did he find anything.

It was an unkempt home. Scattered Daily Prophets, clothes, and utensils lined the floors, but the only interesting thing, if any, was a sealed envelope sitting on a table in the very corner of the small home. Harry made his way over, stepping over whatever was on the floor before him, and picked up the envelope. After checking it for any possible traps, Harry tore off the seal and caught the letter in his left hand as it fell out of the envelope. He read this one silently instead of aloud.

_Dear Auror, _

_By the time you've finally tracked down my cottage, you'll find nothing but just this letter. It must have been no easy feat to find this tiny little cottage, so I shall reward you with a tidbit of information. Near the close of the third month of this year, I will have left my mark in a way that the entire wizarding world will know._

_Yours Truly, _

_The Night Watcher _

"Seems I picked this up at just the right time. Things could've been a lot worse if I didn't," Harry placed the letter in a pocket on his robes and exited his cottage. Before he left, Harry pointed his wand at the door way to the cottage. "Confringo."

Harry watched as the cottage went up in flames, destroying whatever lay within. He thought of it as a small bit of revenge for what Avery had done. For a few more minutes, Harry watched as the flames did their job before apparating to a nearby port key. The storm came just after he left, quelling the flames and leaving the charred remains of what was once Avery's home for eight years. It was not too long before Harry returned to the Ministry and what a sight it was to behold at the time. On each level of the ministry, all hell was breaking loose as the press, many workers, and visiting witches and wizards were running all about as copies of the Daily Prophet whirled through the air and across the ground. This was especially the case for the Atrium, where Harry had apparated into. Luckily, he managed to spot Neville in the crowd who was trying to calm the raging crowds down.

"Neville, what in the bloody hell is going on in here?"

Neville broke through the crowd separating him from Harry and then answered. "Harry! Where've you been? The Ministry has been going mad since the morning. Have you seen the cover of the Daily Prophet?"

Harry shook his head and picked up a copy lying at his feet, gazing over the headline. "Azkaban annihilated? Every inmate present as of this morning is dead save for a few missing. It says here that the entire structure has been damaged beyond repair. How did we let this happen?"

"I dunno, Harry, but I think it has to do with the Night Watcher from Diagon Alley. Everything is a mess right now and we just can't seem to stop everyone from running about."

"Wait, did we have anyone on duty at Azkaban? And who exactly was presumed missing?"

"I remember Kingsley saying that Dawlish and Ron were on duty at the time. We've got no news about them at the moment. And, it was reported that six former Death Eaters were missing when officials were sent to the remains of Azkaban. That's just based on early reports of the bodies they found."

Harry, once again, could feel the anger from before welling up inside of him. First Terry and Anthony, then Ginny, and now his best mate was missing in action. "C'mon Neville, we've got to find Dean and get to Kingsley."

"Gotcha, Harry."

Just as the two Aurors began to make their ways to the elevators, they felt the whole floor shake. It was as if a floor beneath theirs had taken some sort of heavy blow. They hurried into the nearest elevator, only to find a worried Hermione and Dean. Upon finding Harry, she threw her arms around him and began to cry into is sleeve.

"It's terrible, Harry. They've got Ron. What are we going to?" Hermione pulled away from Harry right after finishing, tears still streaming down her face.

"I know, Hermione. These people have got to be stopped, but we've got to speak to Kingsley first. You're welcome to join us. It'll keep you from all the madness."

"Is it just me, Harry, or is this elevator taking longer than usual to make its way to its destination?" Dean interjected as they made their way to the Staff and Minister's Offices on the topmost floor.

Harry shook his head. "I wouldn't think so. We are coming from the eighth level of course."

Suddenly, the elevator jerked around before stopping and smacking against the doors that lead to the first floor. The lights inside of the elevator flickered before turning off completely. There was a moment of complete silence full of heavy breathing before Harry stepped forward and tried to use the controls. Finding them unresponsive, he pointed his wand at the door before them.

"Bombarda."

Both the set of doors out of the elevator and the set leading into the first floor blew away and crashed into the far wall. The four exited the elevator, only to find a wasteland of wreckage that once was the first floor. Any kind of lighting had been extinguished, but a myriad of flames filled separate parts of the room thus allowing anyone of the right eye to see what else was going on. Harry searched the room immediately from his position directly outside of the elevator and spotted a black robed man rounding the corner at the top of the steps towards the offices of the Minister as well as his secretaries and advisors.

"C'mon, this way," Harry began a full sprint towards the steps and up them towards Kingsley's Office. That is until he was intercepted by that same man from just before.

"Harry Potter. It's been awhile," the man in black said, his green and black cowl shimmering like the Death Eater cowls of years ago did.

"Yaxley…nice to see you," Harry watched as the long haired Azkaban escapee removed his cowl, revealing his scarred, yet still eerie, face. 'Stupefy!'

'Protego,"Yaxley casted non-verbally, summoning a magical shield to protect himself from the spell but years of being out of practice led to the shield breaking upon impact with Harry's spell. Still, he stood back up and sent a volley of spells at Harry.

Positioning himself between the wall of an office and the ledge separating the upper part of the floor and the lower, Harry deflected several of the spells and allowed the rest of them to simply sail away from him. Dean, Neville, and Hermione joined in, sending several spells at Yaxley to overwhelm, him. Nearly every spell made contact with Yaxley, flipping him over and causing him to lose control of his wand. Before they could incapacitate Yaxley, Harry and company were tossed against the upper ledge as the wall next to them blew apart. Augustus Rookwood stepped out from the office he had been in, wand pointed at the four.

Quickly turning his head to Yaxley, Rookwood shouted, "Get up!"

Dean, slightly disoriented, stood first and pointed his wand at Rookwood. "Expelliarmus!"

Rookwood's wand flew from his grasp, rolling on the ground just a few feet away. He ducked beneath another curse from Dean and turned, diving to his wand. After standing, Rookwood positioned himself next to a newly invigorated Yaxley. The other four were in a similar condition, wands ready.

"Harry, take Hermione and get to Kingsley's office. I'll take Yaxley," Neville matter-of-factly told Harry and Hermione as he shot several spells at Yaxley.

"And I've got Rookwood," Dean said, unknowingly pitting himself against the man who murdered his biological father years ago.

Harry took hold of Hermione's hand, and they maneuvered themselves to the other portion of the upper floor while Dean and Neville kept the former Death Eaters busy. It didn't take long to reach Kingsley's door. They peered in the window next to the door to find two men in black robes holding a beaten Ron by the hair in front of a standing Kingsley. Quickly, Harry positioned himself in front of the door and non-verbally used Reducto to bring the door to dust. Immediately, the two men in robes turned to Harry and Hermione with their wands drawn.

"Reveal yourselves, you Death Eaters!" Hermione cried out, drawing her wand while doing so.

One of them chuckled lightly, keeping his gaze between Kingsley, Harry, and Hermione while also holding onto Ron's hair with an iron grip. "Death Eaters? That title died with Lord Voldemort. Now we are the Night Watchers, fiends of the night."

"Thank you, Antonin. As you can see, Potter, we have single handedly taken apart Azkaban and the Ministry in two swift blows. We have also taken your friend hostage. It seems as if the chips are stacked against you," Avery said as he removed his gold and black cowl with a simple swipe of his wand.

Tired of Avery's deeds, Kingsley aimed at the old man with his wand. "Stupefy!"

Expecting such an action from the Minster for Magic, Avery brought up a shield and bounced away the spell. Antonin pointed his wand at Kingsley's chest and called out, "Cruoris!"

Kingsley attempted to summon a shield but the purple flames emitting from Dolohov's wand destroyed it and hit him square in the chest. He hit the floor with a thud, his fate unknown to the others in the room. While casting the spell, it caused Dolohov to lighten the grip on Ron's hair. The redhead attempted to get free and was successful until Dolohov put a boot to Ron's face. Both Harry and Hermione prepared to attack Dolohov, but Harry was first hit with an Expelliarmus from Avery. Hesitating every so slightly, Hermione found herself disarmed thanks to a turned around Dolohov. Avery picked up both wands and pocketed them in his cloak as a loud bang went off a little ways outside the office.

"It sounds like the battle outside has reached its climax. That could mean two things. Regardless, I will end this quickly. Imperio!" Avery called out, his wand pointed at Ron.

"What are you doing? Please don't hurt Ron anymore than you already have," Hermione pleaded.

"Quiet girl or I shall do the same to you as I did to Shacklebolt," Antonin warned the woman in front of him.

Avery hissed at Antonin. "No. Leave her be. I want her to watch. Find Rodolphus, Rabastian, and Walden and help them. I'm certain Yaxley has already made his way there," Avery waited until Dolohov was gone and returned his attention to Ron, who's eyes were now empty white which was significantly different from their usual blue.

"Leave Ron alone, Avery. What's he done to you?" Harry asked, trying to sway Avery's attention away from Ron.

"You can try all you want, but it will not work. Now, Ron, take out your wand," Avery ordered the redhead to do so and his order was met with compliance. "Stand, Weasley."

Hermione couldn't stand for this any longer. "Leave him alone! Please, just leave him be. I beg of you."

"Your pleading will stop nothing. Weasley, I want you to put your wand to your head."

At this point, Hermione was in tears. She couldn't bear to watch this and dug her head into Harry's robes. She cried out while doing so. "Please, stop him Harry. I don't want to see Ron go…"

Right as Hermione began to plead to Harry, her friend rushed at Avery with just his bare fists. "I'm going to stop this once and for all!"

"Weasley, point your wand at Potter and say 'Crucio.' Make sure you mean it. He's the enemy."

Ron moved his wand and aimed it at his friend. "Crucio!"

Before he could even throw a punch, Harry found himself being hit by a red light. He crumpled to the ground in pain, Hermione rushing to his side as he twisted and turned as the torture curse coursed through his entire body. He managed to come over the curse just moments later and managed to get to one knee. Hermione did the same, trying to support him while at the same time trying to hold herself together as the man that would be her husband stands under the control of a mad man. Things weren't coming along well.

"That's enough, Weasley. Now, put the wand to your head and repeat after me Ava-" Avery began but was interrupted by a screaming Hermione.

"Don't do this! I'll do anything, just don't hurt Ron!"

Avery growled, tired of these interruptions. He casted a silencing charm on Hermione non-verbally and continued. All Harry could do was watch, still in great pain. "Weasley, just say these simple words: Avada Kedavra."

A glint of blue could be seen for just a moment in the white orbs that were his eyes now. For those with keen eyes, it could've meant that the Ron on the inside was trying to beat the Imperius Curse but to no avail. "Avada Kedavra," Ron repeated, his wand to his head. It dropped to the ground as Ron fell backwards, limp.

Hermione screamed and shouted, inaudibly, as Ron fell to the ground. She acted the same, still crying, as if she had been defeated. Harry stood up, slightly off balance but still good enough, and attempted to attack Avery again. This time, he didn't even come close before Avery sent another, more powerful, Cruciatus Curse at Harry who fell to the ground hard. Finished, Avery grabbed a small package on Kingsley's desk and exited. Just before he fled to another part of the Ministry, Avery unleashed a full powered Confringo on Kingsley's Office. He disappeared into another hallway as the office exploded into flames.

Harry could feel his life get closer to its end as he lay on the floor of Kingsley's Office. A fire had begun to rage around him, he'd lost his best mate, Hermione had been put through emotional torture, Dean and Neville were both dead, and the Ministry of Magic had collapsed. All in one glorious goddamn day. The very moment Harry decided to give in, he felt himself being sprayed with water. As he cracked his eyes open, Harry found a relatively fine Neville using Aguamenti to calm the flames. Much to his surprise, Dean was working on helping Hermione get out as the flames died. It seemed like Dean had deep gashes on his left leg and what looked like a broken left arm but was still in a relatively fine condition. He'd been supporting Hermione on his right shoulder. Harry fully came to as Neville made sure his friend was alright.

"We managed to take down Yaxley, but Rookwood escaped with what looked like Dolohov and some other man. Instead of going after them, Dean and I decided to help you guys out. Seemed like the best thing to do," Neville smiled as he helped out Harry, trying to lighten the situation somewhat.

"Hey, Harry, I found Kingsley. He's not looking too good," Dean said from behind Kingsley's desk, having warded off the flames that remained.

Harry stood, the lasting effects of the Cruciatus Curse working its way through his body as he did so. Making his way over to Kingsley's desk, he knelt behind it.

"He can barely speak, Harry. It looks like he only has a few minutes left."

Harry looked over Kingsley, noticing that his boss was fighting for breath. "Take a rest, Dean. Neville, do you know any healing spells?"

Neville nodded and took out his wand before joining Harry. "I'll get right on it," Neville answered, unsure if he could help Kingsley.

"You needed something, Kingsley?" Harry asked.

The Minister for Magic clutched his stomach in pain as he tried to clamber for the breath needed to reply to Harry. Dolohov's spell had ripped apart Kingsley's insides, causing great internal bleeding. It looked like he was beyond being healed which explains the urgency for why Harry was needed.

"Harry, I need you to track down Avery and his comrades. He stole the Time-Turner I keep locked in my safe."

Harry was greatly confused at this point. "Time-Turners? I thought those were all destroyed years ago."

"No, Harry. The Minister is always entrusted with a single one, but it is purely symbolic of our position," Kingsley paused to cough up blood. He didn't have much time left. "Avery's going to use it for his own misdeeds. Nobody would assault the Ministry to just steal a Time Turner. He must have something else in mind."

"But what does getting the Time-Turner from your office have to do with anything?"

"I'm not sure, Harry. All I'm sure of is that he's going to manipulate time. That's never a good thing."

Harry was beyond confused at this point. "Time manipulation? But why? He can't change anything. It would be against the rules of time travel."

Kingsley, weakening by the second, could barely bring himself to reply. "I am not sure as to what his plan is, but I do know that I can trust some of my best trained Aurors to take him in. Now, Harry, I noticed that Avery took possession of your wand."

This was acknowledged with a sad nod from Harry. "Hermione's too."

"You're going to need something to use. Therefore, I want you to disarm me," Kingsley stated, holding up his wand with his shaking left hand.

As Kingsley closed his eyes, his heavy breathing ceasing, Harry performed the disarming charm without a wand, effectively relieving Kingsley of the contents of his left hand. What was once Kingsley's wand ricocheted off the desk he was sitting against and landed next to him as he finally gave in to his injuries.

Looking to Neville, Harry got a sorrowful nod indicating that his healing had failed and that Kingsley had died. The two supported Kingsley's body and brought him outside of the office, laying him out on the walkway outside. Hermione was also out there, having helped Dean bring her husband out of the office. She was an emotional wreck and couldn't grasp the situation at hand. Mostly because she refused to.

Meanwhile, Avery traversed the halls of the Department of Mysteries, having taken an elevator with his fellow Night Watchers. McNair and the Lestrange brothers spread out

in the Space Chamber while Dolohov accompanied Avery into the Time Chamber. When inside of the long, rectangular main room, Dolohov noted the sparkling, dancing light that filled it. Still, the room felt quite empty. Almost every shelf was vacant, no Time-Turners and barely any clocks left to fill them. Avery kept his sights on the bell jar on the other part of the room, and Dolohov followed him to it.

"Might I ask what your interest in the bell jar is, Avery?"

Avery stopped just before the bell jar. "The jar is well known for both its extravagant design and its magical properties. Whatever goes in enters a constant cycle of life. It's almost as if the jar can control time itself."

"What could you possibly do with the bell jar? It is too large to be moved and messing with the thing's contents will turn you into a walking contradiction. In fact, there was a Death Eater years ago that ended up having the head of an infant and the body of a grown man. He didn't fit in well after that."

"No worries. I'm looking for what's inside of the jar. You see, Dolohov, there is apparently a source for what goes on in that jar, and I'm going to remove it," Avery immediately drew his wand after finishing speaking, pointing it directly at the bell jar.

Concentrating heavily, Avery moved his wand upwards slowly, having managed to get a hold of something inside. With one last lift of his wand, Avery watched as a sparkling jewel escaped the mysterious liquid located within the bell jar. Avery moved his left hand into one of his pockets and brought from it a small satchel. He loosened the top of the satchel and handed it to Dolohov. Understanding what to do, Dolohov held the satchel open as Avery navigated the jewel into it. After taking the satchel from Dolohov, Avery tied it quickly and pocketed it once more. The wondrous light that once filled the room had vanished. Avery and Dolohov made their way back to the Space Chamber, with Avery soon departing for the Death Chamber.

Dean, Neville, and Harry stood inside of a ministry elevator, taking it to the Department of Mysteries. Hermione had left them a few floors up to get help from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. After its usual chime went off, the elevator's doors opened. Carefully, the trio moved out of the elevator and crept through the halls, making sure not to make much noise.

In only minutes, the three found themselves at the threshold of the Space Chamber and, lo and behold, five of the former Death Eaters had taken up positions throughout the room. Nearest to them was Macnair. Taking advantage of their position, the three went to work. Harry disarmed Macnair, and Neville non-verbally used Petrificus Totalus to render Macnair immobile. A full scale battle soon erupted with Harry taking on Rookwood and Dolohov while Dean and Neville fought the Lestrange brothers.

Dolohov and Rookwood found themselves off balance as they dueled Harry, the odd properties of the Space Chamber finally kicking in. Their curses found themselves merely smashing into the wall as Harry fired off a quick Stupefy at Rookwood, not quite as off balance. Rookwood fell backwards but began to float instead of hitting the ground. While Rookwood was adjusting himself, Dolohov sent forth his own curse, purple flames emitting from the tip of his wand as he called its name: Cruoris.

Harry ducked below the flames, knowing he would share Kingsley's fate if he were to come in contact with them. From his position, he pointed his wand directly at Dolohov and non-verbally casted Depulso. Dolohov flew back, his momentum ceasing as he began to float in mid-air in a situation similar to Rookwood, but he was slightly more elevated. Following the casting of Depulso, Harry sent forth an Expelliarmus at Dolohov that relieved him of his wand. Right after, Harry found himself falling over as one of Rookwood's own spells hit his arm.

Blood dripped from Harry's left arm, a deep cut having developed after Rookwood's spell made contact. As Dolohov finally made his way back to the ground, Harry hurriedly casted Stupefy at him and another at Rookwood. Red sparks flew at both men and only one hit, it sending Dolohov into the wall behind him and knocking him out. The red sparks aimed at Rookwood never made contact, it bouncing off of a newly summoned shield. Both Harry and Rookwood began an exchange of various spells, none of them meeting their target.

As Harry and Rookwood faced off, Neville and Dean continued a lengthy duel against the Lestrange brothers. Rabastian kept his attention on Dean while Rodolphus and Neville fought not too far away.

Dean could barely manage to duel due to the injuries he had suffered in his previous duel against Yaxley. This was evident in his slow reactions and movements. Regardless of his debilitations, Dean still fought off nearly every curse thrown his way save for the Avada Kedavra curses he had to dive from. After one of Rabastian's spells threw Dean to the ground, he prepared one last killing curse to finish off the man before him. Exhausted and devoid of breathe, Dean watched as Rabastian approached him. He launched a non-verbal Stupefy at Rabastian and caused the man to topple over. With just pure will, Dean stood and aimed his wand at Rabastian.

"Reducto!" Dean shouted, aiming to kill Rabastian.

In retaliation, Rabastian pointed his own wand at Dean. "Reducto!"

The two spells clashed between the two and sent an equal amount of magic at the casters. Rabastian was hit first, the spell tearing apart his chest and killing him. Dean did not suffer the same fate. In order to defend himself, he attempted summon a magical shield. While still forming, the shield was met with the force of the Reducto aimed at Dean. It reduced the power of the spell, but Dean was still significantly injured. He was lifted off of the ground from the impact and his body floated in mid-air afterwards. His mind slowly drifted into unconsciousness.

Neville wasn't having as much trouble with Rodolphus. After nearly five minutes of exchanging various spells back and forth, Neville managed to disarm Rodolphus with Expelliarmus. In order to keep Rodolphus from retrieving his wand, Neville non-verbally casted Immobulus. He watched as the older man stopped in place.

"Incarcerous," Neville said, watching as ropes surrounded Rodolphus' body.

Just as Neville finished off Rodolphus, Harry found himself gaining the upper hand against Rookwood. That is until Rookwood casted Fiendfyre, causing several beasts to form and soar at Harry. In order to protect himself, Harry used a planet model making its usual rotation as cover. It was overtaken by fire quickly, the fantastical beasts maneuvering around it to attack Harry. Cursing, Harry ran from the cover and began heading to Neville and Dean. He needed to come up with a plan. Fast.

While all of the dueling was going on in the Space Chamber, Avery finally entered the Death Chamber after navigating several hallways. The chamber was large, square, and dimly lit save for the small amount of light that lit the center. Avery stepped onto one of the stone piers, headed for the very center of the room.

"There it is. The Veil."

After just a few moments of walking, Avery stepped off of the stone pier and stood at the base of a stone dais. After ascending the steps of the platform, he stood just mere feet from the Veil. Suddenly, voices began to echo from the silvery, mist-like substance within the stone archway. Avery recognized them as the voices as his deceased family, including his son who died in the Battle of Hogwarts nearly five years ago. From his pocket, he withdrew the Time-Turner and began to spin it.

"It's almost time."

Things weren't as quiet in the Space Chamber. Harry and Neville ran throughout the area, ducking behind whatever cover they could find. Making things worse was the fact that Neville had Dean hoisted over his shoulder. Rookwood navigated the Fiendfyre, keeping it on a constant path of destruction. Harry and Neville attempted to fire off spells at Rookwood to stop him, but none of them hit their target.

"Harry, I'm going to get his attention. Get to Rookwood while I do. It may be our only chance to take him out."

"But, Neville, I –"

"Don't argue, Harry. Just do it."

The very next thing that Neville did was rush out from their temporary cover without Dean. He fired a spell at one of the floating planets, knocking it from its position in mid-air and next to Rookwood. Spotting Neville, Rookwood quickly sent the Fiendfyre at Neville in an attempt to devour the man whole. As he was doing this, Harry rushed from the cover and made his way towards Rookwood. When at an appropriate firing distance, Harry pointed what was once Kingsley's wand at Rookwood.

"Duro!" Harry shouted, a gray beam escaping the tip of the wand.

Rookwood subverted his attention to Harry just as his name was shouted. Before he could do anything else, Rookwood was struck in the chest by Harry's spell. The beam crept over his body, solidifying somehow and encasing his entire body in stone. For all intents and purposes, Rookwood was dead. Nevertheless, the Fiendfyre was still raging. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry could see Neville attempting to escape the cursed fire.

"Just leave, Harry!" Neville cried as he continued to move from position to position in an attempt to escape the cursed fire. "I'll be okay. Trust me!"

Harry hesitated, trying to make a decision as to what he should do. He knew that there was still one more fugitive to take care of, but he was never one to leave his friends behind.

"Go!" Neville shouted once more, his rapidly growing exhaustion evident in his movements. "I'm going to get Dean, and we're going to get out of here alive. Just leave!"

Finally deciding to listen to Neville, Harry took the closest exit, opening a door and rushing into a new hallway. He began rushing through the many halls within the Department of Mysteries, hoping he'll be able to find Avery. Also on his mind was whether or not Neville had followed up on his promise. All Harry could do was hope so.

Avery had finished turning the Time-Turner awhile ago and simply held the gears in place for the moment. He took out the satchel holding the jewel. With just the hand holding the satchel he pulled the jewel from its holding place and gripped it tightly. An unknown sensation washed over his body, perhaps the same one that powered the bell jar. He felt invigorated, as if he had reentered his youth once more. His body still did not reflect the feeling, though. As he held the jewel, the Time-Turner in his other hand began to react, shimmering slightly. Grinning, Avery tossed the jewel into the Veil.

Like anything that enters the Veil, the jewel was quickly destroyed. As the jewel disappeared, an unusual glow made itself present in the Veil, its usual silver color becoming light blue. Avery recognized this as being an indicator that his plan had worked.

"It worked. Now I can just step through and return to the old days. Then I can put my full plan in motion."

Finally ready to enter the Veil, Avery took a step forward. He could feel the pull of the Veil as he neared it. The shimmering of his Time-Turner continued, becoming brighter the closer he came to the Veil. Suddenly, Harry ran into the room. He stopped in the middle of one of the stone piers.

"What are you doing, Avery?" Harry asked, wondering why the old man was about to walk into the Veil. "Are you trying to kill yourself?"

Avery turned to face Harry once more, acknowledging the presence of the young, powerful Auror. Instead of giving a response to Harry's questions, Avery grinned devilishly. He turned back to the Veil and made his final approach, entering. Upon entrance, Avery's body was destroyed, but the Time-Turner he entered with kept itself together for just a little longer. The device began to spin, rotating many times in just seconds. When done rotating, the Time-Turner itself dissipated which left just its sands. The sands surrounded the floating soul of Avery and merged with it, disappearing as they did so. Right after the merging, Avery's soul transported itself through time, going back as many years as the Time-Turner spun. The jewel he had thrown in earlier had greatly amplified the Veil and the Time-Turner, effectively creating a means of time travel.

Harry fell over as Avery entered the Veil, a wave of pure energy escaping the archway and falling over the entire chamber. He got himself up quickly and rushed to the Veil, noticing that its normal silver color and wisps of smoke had been replaced with some sort of light blue vortex. Little did he know, the window of time travel that Avery had opened was closing. At first, it was capable of sending Avery over fifty years back in time. That amount of time was getting smaller and smaller.

"Should I chase him?" Harry pondered, looking into the vortex before him. It looked like he was going to have to make a decision soon. "I've got to do it."

After taking one last deep breath, Harry dove into the vortex, unaware of what would happen to him. His body slowly drifted into the world past the Veil, it slowly breaking apart and disappearing right after. The remnants of Harry's soul were then thrown through the annals of time. Unlike Avery, he had no Time-Turner, meaning he couldn't control how many years he was going back and also had no chance of retaining his memories. As Harry's soul began the final approach to its destination, all of the memories Harry had experienced prior to entering the Veil were eradicated. The soul finally ended its journey after traveling back over twelve years.

The very same moment Harry's soul finished its journey, the vortex closed, letting off yet another wave of energy. Its power put an incredible amount of pressure on the archway, causing it to collapse. As the archway fell apart, the light that usually illuminated the chamber disappeared which left the entire chamber in darkness.

Over twelve years in the past, Harry's soul converged with the soul of his ten year old self. It looked like Harry was quite a few years late in his chase of Avery, and now he was in his pre-wizard days once more. Despite this, the threat of Avery was far from over.


End file.
